Safety window construction



Oct. 1, 19-68 E. DEGENHART SAFETY WINDOW CONSTRUCTION Filed Nov. 14, 1966 INVENTOR. Zrrasfigyenfiaffi BY Wai'sm, 54, gm ew zg Array/r516.

United States Patent 3,403,475 SAFETY WINDOW CONSTRUCTION Ernst Degenhart, Apartado Postal 546, Buena Vista Soyapango, San Salvador, El Salvador Filed Nov. 14, 1966, Ser. No. 594,247 1 Claim. (CI. 4937 1) The present invention relates to window construction for building structures and, more particularly, to security windows for building structures of the type designed to prevent entry to said building structure through the windows. v

In the building art, it is known to provide windows with louvers to regulate the ventilation and the entry of sunlight into the building. These ventilating windows almost universally consist of a plurality of glass louver blades which are mounted at their ends on suitable brackets for rotation in unison about their longitudinal center axis. These windows have gained wide acceptance in use in homes since with this arrangement the louvers may be opened for ventilation while at the same time preventing the entry of precipitation, as would occur with conventional windows.

These louvered windows, however, have been found to be subject to a major disadvantage in that where the security of the building is of utmost importance, the louvered windows can not be utilized. This is so since the louver blades of the prior art devices are easily broken by one desiring to gain entry to the building whereupon the person may easily pass through the rather large opening previously occupied by the plurality of unreinforced louvers. Thus, there exists a need for a window, which is capable of allowing ventilation of the building, as desired, while maintaining the security of the building.

Accordingly, it is one object of the present invention to provide such a security window having operable louver blades for ventilation.

It is a more specific object of the present invention to provide a window including a rigid frame and cross bars to prevent entry of the building through the window opening and having a louver blade mounted on each of the bars to provide ventilation.

It is another object of the present invention to provide a security window of the type described, which is characterized by its simplicity and inexpensiveness so as to be capable of low cost mass production and easy installation.

In accordance with the salient features of the present invention, there is provided a plurality of rigid metal bars extending horizontally across a rigid metal window frame, the spacing between the bars being insufficient to admit a person between the same. Symmetrically mounted on each of the cross bars is a louver blade which is pivotally or angularly adjustable about its center axis to selectively ventilate the building, as desired.

The side frame members of the window are advanta geously formed of generally U-shaped channel members, at least one leg of the channel member being fixed to the building structure and the other leg being adapted to receive stub shafts on the ends of the bar to allow for the adjustable rotary movement of the louver blades. Preferably, an integral, bifurcated center portion of the louver blades forms a longitudinal channel, tunnel or hole for mating with the cross bar upon assembly, which is accomplished in the preferred embodiment by merely inserting the longitudinal channel of the blade over the bar.

In accordance with another aspect of the present invention, the louver blades are transparent so as to be capable of admitting light and, perhaps more importantly, to expose the bars to discourage would-be thieves from trying to gain entry through the window. Furthermore, the present invention contemplates the use of the louver blades being formed in a single piece of plastic with series of longitudinal channels through the blade to provide diffusion of the light and to strengthen the blades to resist fiexure of the same.

Still other objects and advantages of the present invention will become readily apparent to those skilled in this art from the following detailed description, wherein I have shown and described only the preferred embodiments of the invention, simply by way of illustration of the best modes contemplated by me of carrying out my invention. As will be realized, the invention is capable of other and different embodiments, and its several details are capable of modification in various obvious respects, all without departing from the invention. Accordingly, the drawings and description are to be regarded as illustrative in nature, and not as restrictive.

In the drawings:

FIGURE 1 is an overall inside view of a window constructed in accordance with the present invention;

FIGURE 2 is an enlarged cross-sectional view taken along line 22 of FIGURE 1;

FIGURE 2a illustrates a modification of the cross-section of the louver blades of the present invention as taken along the same line 22 of FIGURE 1;

FIGURE 3 is a perspective view of the end of a single louver unit;

FIGURE 4 is a perspective view of the U-shaped channel member forming the side frames of the window;

FIGURE 5 is a cross-sectional view taken along line 55 of FIGURE 1;

FIGURE 6 is a cut-away view showing the use of a lever to individually adjust the louver units; and

FIGURE 7 is a perspective view of the lever illustrated in FIGURE 6.

With reference now to FIGURE 1 of the drawings, there is illustrated a window 10 constructed in accordance with the principles of the present invention and installed in a suitable opening 11 of a wall W of a building structure. The window 10 of the invention does not require a rectangular shaped frame, as has heretofore been conventional, but is preferably installed where a suitable lintel 12 and window sill 13 are provided integral with the wall W. Thus, as shown, a pair of side members 14, 15, which are removable as will later be explained, are fitted within the opening 11 and form the only frame structure of the window 10. It will be understood that the side members 14, 15 are capable of fabrication in any size and length or shape to fit the required window opening 11 of the wall W in which it is .desired to be mounted. To best accomplish the above objects, the side members 14, 15 are constructed of rigid metal, although other materials having sufficient rigidity could be substituted if desired. The side members 14, 15 are preferably fixed within the opening 11 of the wall W by bolting the same along the side faces of said opening 11 by any number of bolts B, in a manner that will be more fully explained later during the discussion of FIGURES 4 and 5.

Spanning the opening within the side members 14, 15 are a plurality of louver blade units 20, which are constructed in accordance with the present invention so as to be angularly adjustable between the closed position il- '3 lustrated in FIGURE 1 and an open position for ventilation, as denoted by the dotted line position of FIGURE 2. As best shown in the latter figure, each of the louver blade units includes a glass (or other transparent or translucent material) blade 21 integrally formed with a centrally bifurcated area so as to present an elongated channel 22 extending along the central axis of the same and a cross bar 23 extending through said channel 22 with stub portions 24, 25 at opposite ends thereof for engagement with the side members 14, 15 respectively (see FIGURE 1). As can be seen in FIGURE 2, the bar 23 and the channel 22 are preferably of a square cross section so that the same are capable of rotation as a unit about the central axis of the bar 23.

To accomplish the security objectives of the present invention, the bars 23 are contemplated to be made of relatively heavy steel or other suitable bar stock; however, as with the side members 14, 15, it is clear that suitable substitutes might be employed without departing from the spirit of the invention. The spacing between the bars 23 is selected so as to be insufficient to admit a person between the same so that even if the blades are broken no entry to the building can be gained. It is noted here that since the bars 23 are exposed through the bifurcated central area of the glass forming the channel 22 of the blade 21, a person would be apprised that breaking the glass would be futile insofar as gaining entry is concerned so that, in reality, even attempts at entry should be materially reduced with the use of the window 10 of the present invention.

An alternative embodiment or modification of the louver blade unit 20 is shown in'FIGURE 2a, wherein like parts bear like reference numerals with the sufiix a being added for further identification. Thus, the louver blade units 20a include a blade 21a fabricated of a suitable plastic, fiber glass or other easily moldable material, which is of essentially the same construction and shape as the glass blade 21. One important exception to this is that a plurality of hollow, longitudinally extending channels are provided in the blade 21a to cause a certain amount of diffusion of the light passing through the window 10, and for added flexure strength and for economy of fabrication through a saving of material. In addition, the blades 21a are provided along each longitudinal edge thereof with notched portions 31 adapted to complementarily mate with the adjacent edge portion whereby the blades 21a all lie in the same plane when in the closed position.

With reference now to FIGURE 3, it can be seen that the stub shaft 25, as well as the stub shaft 24, are circular in cross section with diameters no larger than the distance across a side of the channel 22 of the blade 21 so that in assembling the units 20, the blade 21 may be simply and easily slid over either of the stub shafts 24, 25 and then centered on the square cross bar 23, as required.

The side members 14, 15 are preferably formed of generally U-shaped channel members, which have spaced legs 35, 36 with cross Web 37, as shown with reference to the side member 15 in FIGURE 4; it being understood that side member 14 is identical and thus need not be specifically discussed here. Thus, the inner leg 35 of the side member 15 extends parallel to the inner side facing of the opening 11 and has circular apertures 38 (only one of which is shown) adapted to matingly receive the stub shaft 25 to thereby condition the louver blade unit 20 for the above mentioned angular rotation about its longitudinal axis. In the preferred embodiment, the outer leg 36 of the side member 15 is fixedly attached to the facing of said opening 11 in the wall W (note FIGURE 5) by any number of suitable fastening bolts B through corresponding holes 40. I

As can best be seen in FIGURE 5, the cross web 37 of the side member 15 faces the outside of the window 10 so that access to neither the fastening bolts B nor the stub shaft 25 can be gained by a person on the outside; however, each is readily accessible from the inside for ease of installation or for adjustment of the ventilation, respectively; the latter operation now to be described. Alternatively, the side faces of the opening 11 may be stepped, as indicated by the dotted line outline in this figure, whereby even more security is provided.

For this purpose at least one of the stub shafts 24, 25, such as the stub shaft 25 in FIGURES 3 and 6, is provided with a diametrical slot 45, which is preferably positioned at an angle of approximately with respect to the plane of the louver blade 21. With this arrangement, a lever T may be inserted in the space between the legs 35, 36 of the channel members 14, 15, so that a head 46 (note FIGURE 7) is adapted to slide in the direction of the arrow 47 into the slot 45 whereby the louver blade units 20 may be easily adjusted through the desire-d angle by manipulation of said lever T in the direction of arrow 50. If desired, there may be provided separate levers fixed in the slots 45 of each of the blades 20 and the ends of these levers could be interconnected by a tie bar (not shown) for operation of the blades 20 in unison.

To further explain and as can be noted in FIGURE 2, the louver blade units 20 are adapted for angular adjustment in the counterclockwise direction to open the same, as indicated by the arrow in this figure since the upper longitudinal edge of each blade 21 is positioned inside the lower longitudinal edge of the adjacent blade 21. Accordingly, opening adjustment of each of the units 20 is made by simply rotating the lever T in the same counterclockwise direction. When such opening is effected, it will be noted that since the lower longitudinal edge portion of each blade 21 extends to the outside as noted by the dotted line position in FIGURE 2, any precipitation is advantageously prevented from entering the window 10 in the usual manner of louver construction.

It should now be evident to those skilled in the art that the device of the present invention provides a security window that is capable of allowing ventilation of the building in accordance with the foregoing objects. Furthermore, it will be realized that the provision of such a structure has been advantageously accomplished so that the same is particularly inexpensive to manufacture and easy to assemble and disassemble.

In this disclosure, there is shown and described only the preferred embodiments of the invention, but, as aforementioned, it is to be understood that the invention is capable of various changes or modifications within the scope of the inventive concept as expressed by the accoming claim.

I claim:

1. A security window for a building structure comprising a rigid frame, a plurality of rigid cross bars extending between the sides of said frame, the spacing between said bars being insufficient to admit a person between the same, a louver blade mounted along its longitudinal center axis on each of said bars, means for angularly adjusting each of said blades about said center axis, whereby said window is capable of selectively ventilating said structure while maintaining the security of the same, said bars being substantially square in cross-sectional shape, said bars having a circular stub shaft at each end thereof, each of the sides of said frame comprising a U- shaped channel member, at least one leg of each of the channel members being fixed to said building structure and the other leg of each of said channel members having circular apertures for rotatably receiving the corresponding stub shafts, whereby said blades and said bars are angularly adjustable by rotation as a unit in said apertures, each of said blades including a channel extending along the central axis thereof, said channel being formed by an integral bifurcation in said blade, said channel being substantially square in cross-section to mate with said bar, whereby said blades are rotatively fixed to said bars, said adjusting means comprising a dimetrical slot in at least one of said stub shafts of each of said bars, where- 3,403,475 7 5 6 by each of said blades can be adjusted by a lever inserted References Cited between the legs of said channel members, the cross-web UNITED STATES PATENTS of said U-shaped channel members facing the outside of 2,390,227 12/1945 Smith 49-51 XR said building structure. and fastenlng means belng pro- 3 110 936 11/1963 Berard 49 92 vided at least along said other leg, whereby access to said 5 3:113355 12/1963 Tracy et a1 adjusting means and said fastening means can be gained u only from the inside.

KENNETH DOWNEY, Primary Examiner. 

1. A SECURITY WINDOW FOR A BUILDING STRUCTURE COMPRISING A RIGID FRAME, A PLURALITY OF RIGID CROSS BARS EXTENDING BETWEEN THE SIDES OF SAID FRAME, THE SPACING BETWEEN SAID BARS BEING INSUFFICIENT TO ADMIT A PERSON BETWEEN THE SAME, A LOUVER BLADE MOUNTED LONG ITS LONGITUDINAL CENTER AXIS ON EACH OF SAID BARS, MEANS FOR ANGULARLY ADJUSTING EACH OF SAID BLADES ABOUT SAID CENTER AXIS, WHEREBY SAID WINDOW IS CAPABLE OF SELECTIVELY VENTILATING SAID STRUCTURE WHILE MAINTAINING THE SECURITY OF THE SAME, SAID BARS BEING SUBSTANTIALLY SQUARE IN CROSS-SECTIONAL SHAPE, SAID BARS HAVING A CIRCULAR STUB SHAFT AT EACH END THEREOF, EACH OF THE SIDES OF SAID FRAME COMPRISING A USHAPED CHANNEL MEMBER, AT LEAST ONE LEG OF EACH OF THE CHANNEL MEMBERS BEING FIXED TO SAID BUILDING STRUCTURE AND THE OTHER LEG OF EACH OF SAID CHANNEL MEMBERS HAVING CIRCULAR APERTURES FOR ROTATABLY RECEIVING THE CORRESPONDING STUB SHAFTS, WHEREBY SAID BLADES AND SAID BARS ARE ANGULARLY ADJUSTABLE BY ROTATION AS A UNIT IN SAID APERTURES, EACH OF SAID BLADES INCLUDING A CHANNEL EXTENDING ALONG THE CENTRAL AXIS THEREOF, SAID CHANNEL BEING FORMED BY AN INTEGRAL BIFURCATION IN SAID BLADE, SAID CHANNEL BEING SUBTANTIALLY SQUARE IN CROSS-SECTION TO MATE WITH SAID BAR, WHEREBY SAID BLADES ARE ROTATIVELY FIXED TO SAID BARS, SAID ADJUSTING MEANS COMPRISING A DIMETRICAL SLOT IN AT LEAST ONE OF SAID STUB SHAFTS OF EACH OF SAID BARS WHEREBY EACH OF SAID BLADES CAN BE ADJUSTED BY A LEVER INSERTED BETWEEN THE LEGS OF SAID CAN BE ADJUSTED BY A LEVER INSERTED OF SAID U-SHAPED CHANNEL MEMBERS FACING THE OUTSIDE OF SAID BUILDING STRUCTURE AND FASTENING MANS BEING PROVIDED AT LEAST ALONG SAID OTHER LEG, WHEREBY ACCESS TO SAID ADJUSTING MEANS AND SAID FASTENING MEANS CAN BE GAINED ONLY FROM THE INSIDE. 